Yeah I have decided I will modify the cage slightly at the back to give more headroom. It shouldn't be too hard, hopefully doesn't detract from the sleek look.

My engineer told me during my first buggy build that he doesn''t actually measure the headspace. He recons he is the perfect model for the headspace measurements and if he sits in the seat and moves around and his head doesn''t hit anything, then its all good. He is somewhat smaller than me.

I might as well let the cat out of the bag and say I am looking at the idea of making it a 5seater. You would not believe how well the rear seat from the 08-13 Impreza fits in the back. It has just a 10-15mm clearance on the edge to the fiberglass, even the curve around the wheel arches. The subaru seat is a 3 seater. The middle seat wont be an adult seat however as it is higher and you will be even closer to the rollbar middle support bars.

Been a bit slack with the updates of late, had a few things come up with work and also putting in an inground pool and landscaping the backyard has not helped my free time.Anyway after a month of not doing anything to the manxster I am back into it. Got the wiring mostly all done, and as of the other day, the engine is now running, see video.

OK Been a while, had dramas loggin in to my photobucket account, all sorted now.

Made a fair bit of progress, mos of the fab work is now done, it is all pulled apart again, barwork has been sent to get powdercoated, body is about to get some primer and a coat of paint, and then its final assembly and finish bolting stuff on.The only things I havn't got yet are the Wheels, gearbox and brakes. Hoping Mr Subarugears comes up with them shortly Unfortunately it doesnt look like it will be completed before the nationals next month, so target is now Valla in the end of July.

Ooops, been a while since I posted an update. Been flat out mad with work and trying to finish the car to get it to Valla I had no time to muck around on the forums. I ended up getting the engineers certificate the Tuesday of the Valla week, Blue slip and rego sorted on Wednesday and then took it to Valla on the Thursday. Theres still 100s of little things to finish and sort out but the main things are done and it is on the road.Quite happy with it so far, it drives well. The performance of the 2ltre FA turbo engine has me blown away, it is nothing like the EJ20T of my old buggy. the twinscroll turbo boosts up super quick and down low in the rpm, there is just no lag. Gets up to 1.4bar (20psi) by 3500rpm. I'm still waiting to get it tuned, so not going too crazy with the revs just yet.

Its just good there was no real issues or show stoppers at the end, a few things were untried, particularly the brakes. I used the Subaru Master cylinder and brake booster, stock beetle front brakes, and subabrakes rears. I had to put a valve in to wind down the rear braking just a tiny bit and the result is brakes that feel like a modern day car, nice feel to the pedal and stops well. The handbrake is the best feeling handbrake ever, better than the falcon and sherman brakes i've used in the past.

Done a few hundred km in it now and its using about 8L/100km which is fantastic considering its been relatively short trips around town and not much highway/freeway driving.